


can you drown me?

by homesickinspace



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M, mermaid au, merman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-09 10:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7798690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homesickinspace/pseuds/homesickinspace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh usually only saw tired, tough-looking humans at the dock nearby his home. When he sees a lanky man bawling his eyes out into the abyss below, he doesn’t really know what to do. (merman!josh au)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. chapter one

Humans were fascinating to Josh.

All he really saw were glimpses and outsider observations, made as he peeked his head out from beneath the ocean’s grasp. He only went out at night, simply because it was the safest thing for his kind to do. Nearby, through context clues, Josh eventually discovered that the closest thing to his habitat was a pizza parlor, connected to the dock that lead into the water. That pizza place, which Josh found out, hosted lots and lots of live music. _Loud_ music.

The first time the merman peeked his head out from above the water and heard the constant thump of _something_ coming from _somewhere,_ coupled with the shouting of many other humans, Josh was terrified enough to not even dare to go near the surface again for a week.

Slowly, Josh learned what the noises he heard initially were coming from: a concert. Punks with slicked up, candy-colored hair and metal where Josh didn’t even _know_ metal could be stuck in occasionally made their way down the dock. The merman watched tentatively from the distance, observing the way the humans had such a different way of presenting themselves versus the humans Josh saw before.

Eventually, the merman adapted their appearance with his own. While Josh was scared to death of fishermen, for obvious reasons, the occasional hook they left behind were useful in creating the piercings he saw on the surface. The unnatural hair colors he saw, though, would have to be recreated a different way. He found that, if he peaked his head out from the water for long enough, his hair gradually became lighter. Josh was lucky enough that two girls left half a container of hot pink dye on the brim of the dock after doing a quick touch-up before the night’s show. It took a while for his hair to dry fully (after all, he did read the instructions on the container), but after slathering on the fluorescent dye to his lightened brown hair and waiting a bit longer, the time spent was completely worth it. The look his friends gave him was _priceless._ There was something about the humans he saw there that Josh found so appealing, so _comforting_ , even though he wasn’t even there to fully experience it.

Despite the scenic location, combined with the busy nights at the pizzeria as it hosted punk band after punk band, not many people came all the way down to where Josh would watch the surface dwellers. The people he did see, usually, were tired rockers, who would dip their feet in and jest with their friends about the show they just saw.

This night, so far, was nothing different for Josh. No one had come down to where he was observing by the edge of the dock, which was fine by him. He suddenly heard footsteps making their way down the wooden walkway, Josh’s cue to recede a bit into the dark waters. When Josh emerged again from the water, he was expecting some run-of-the-mill punk at the dock’s edge. So, when he _instead_ saw a lanky boy in a polo shirt bawling his eyes out, the merman didn’t really know _what_ to do.

He sank his head below the water, until his eyes were only just above the surface. He watched as the man sobbed, head in his hands, knees tucked up underneath him. Dark hair and tanned arms with marking Josh had never seen before obscured the other’s face. Josh wanted to say something to him, but his presence would only make things worse, he thought. Plus, despite the efforts he tried to make, he truly didn’t know what to say. The man eventually calmed down over the course of a few minutes. Dim moonlight barely illuminated the stranger’s face as he took his hands away from his eyes. Josh watched tepidly as he managed to slow his breathing down. The man didn’t seem to be able to see him, anyway.

“Is anyone out there?” The man asked, broken voice barely registering over top the lapping water. The merman wanted to say something, _anything_ , but watched on as his voice caught in his throat. Dark, tired eyes looked around at the water around him, glancing over Josh as if nothing was there. The silence was deafening. Without saying another word, the stranger clumsily got up from his kneeling position. Left without a trace.

Josh felt something stream down his face. Was he, crying? Eyes stinging, mouth quivering, Josh had experienced the sensation of crying for the first time. All because of a stranger. Josh tried searching in his mind for some plausible reason to have such a reaction, but there was nothing. Bringing himself back to reality, the merman found himself staring at a barren dock with a heavy heart. A gap in the cloudy sky revealed the moon in all its glory, illuminating the wood where the stranger once was.

Josh found himself desperately hoping the man would return. Though, if he did, the merman didn’t know if he could stand to feel as much as he was feeling right now again.


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh checked the dock every night, waiting for the stranger to return. After a week, he finally did.

It was about a week until the stranger returned.

Josh checked every day, of course. He still didn’t know why he needed the sad man to return, but he just did. The previous days, the merman left his watching spot with a heavy heart and not even a glimpse of the person he wanted to see the most. He didn’t feel this yearning need for other humans, or even others of his kind. But he just wanted closure, wanted to see him, _needed_ him.

The night sky was clear tonight, a nearly full moon illuminating the entire beachfront. Wind swept across the surface of the water, creating choppy waves out of dark water. Josh observed the distant shoreline, and when he heard footsteps making their way down the pier, submerged himself fully into the dark ocean water. When he peaked his head above the surface again, this time a couple yards away from the dock, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Cross-legged on the edge of the dock, the stranger was there again. In his hands he had an instrument that Josh had never seen before—some sort of weird, shrunken guitar. The sad, tired expression the stranger had last time hadn’t gone away. Josh felt himself fully peak his head out of the water, trying to get a better look while he could. The human wasn’t looking around, anyway. His glance was driven directly down into his lap, clutching tightly onto the foreign instrument. Josh saw the man strum absent-mindedly at the strings, but the noise was drowned out by the waves. His voice, though, was not. And Josh fell in love with it.

Josh wasn’t a stranger to beautiful singing voices. After all, he was friends with many sirens; plus, with the number of musicians that perform near the beach, he had heard a lot of different singers. Yet, there was something _different_ about the singing this stranger did. His friends were confident, reckless, devious in their hypnotizing voices and what they chose to do with them. Even the musicians who came to town didn’t really have any majesty to their voice, more focused on going hard and fast without much grace. But the voice singing to him now was different; it was fragile, scared, _genuine_ as it emanated from the stranger. Josh found himself lost in the crooning voice, not particularly listening to the lyrics as he watched the man perform in awe.

The merman eventually noticed that, like the last time their paths crossed, the singer was crying. Any magic that came from the singer’s voice was cut off with a broken sob. The moonlight beamed off of the stranger’s face, revealing the tears along with the rest of his features: dark, tired eyes with an upturned nose and agape mouth.

“You sound beautiful!”

Josh heard someone say the words before actually realizing _he_ was the one who blurted it out. He knew this wasn’t safe, no matter how much he wanted it to be. The man whipped his head around toward Josh. For the first time, he locked eyes with the stranger.

“Ah!” The man yelped, reeling back onto the pier. He let go of his instrument, fumbling for it almost comically before actually dropping it. Josh knew he could swim quickly when needed, and did just that; he found himself right up at the edge of the dock, and caught the instrument before it sank into the abyss below. He held it up expectantly, treating it with immense care.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Josh said gently. The stranger timidly took it and placed it next to him on the wood.

“No, it’s not your fault,” The other said, “er, I mean, it’s alright. I didn’t realize anyone else was here. Thank you,” He gave Josh a forced smile, which he reciprocated with a wide, genuine one.

“Are you okay?” Josh asked, resting his elbows up onto the dock. He knew he shouldn’t be here still, should’ve swam away while he had the chance, but he didn’t _care_. What he did care about, though, was in front of his very eyes at the moment.

“Oh?” The human seemed surprised, “I mean, thank you for asking, but I’d rather not talk about this right now. Especially around strangers.” Josh could see the tears in his dark eyes.

“I understand,” Josh said, even though he really didn’t. “It’s just that…the two times I’ve seen you, you’re always sad—"

“Two?” The other asked, face incredulous, and Josh could feel his cheeks heat up.

“Well, you seemed really upset the last time you came around here. You didn’t notice me, so I didn’t say anything,” Josh told him.

“You were…oh,” he said after a long pause. “I’m sorry, I’m such a downer, I should really—"

“No!” Josh exclaimed on impulse, grabbing his hand. “Please don’t, I want to talk to you more.” The other’s face lit up with surprise, and Josh saw him genuinely smile for the first time.

“Oh, okay,” the other said sheepishly. “Well in that case, what’s your name?”

“Josh.”

“Josh…” he repeated, and Josh wanted no one to say his name again unless it came from this boy. “It suits you well,” he paused to smile at the merman, causing his cheeks to blush deeper. “I’m Tyler.”

“Tyler…” Josh repeated in the same tone, raising a chuckle from Tyler. “I like it!”

“Aw, thanks…” Tyler trailed off. His voice no longer sounded as sad as when Josh first heard it. The silence between the two wasn’t nearly as heavy as it once was; in fact, it was rather comfortable. Josh realized his hand was still holding onto Tyler’s, and Tyler didn’t seem to mind.

“How come you don’t seem like the other people that usually come down here?” Josh asked after a while. Tyler looked down at him, confusion ridden across his face.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, usually the people that I see have dyed hair and piercings and ripped up jeans, you…” Josh paused to look at Tyler, with his khaki shorts and short-sleeved button-up shirt with some sort of bird pattern, “you don’t seem like that.” When Tyler laughed in response, Josh was mortified he said something wrong.

“Yeah, I guess I’m not really like that,” Tyler said, squeezing the other’s hand, “Trust me, I don’t think my parents would let me walk around with hot pink hair.” They both laughed at that, and Josh felt like they had been friends for years. A short buzzing sound interrupted their laughter.

“What was that?” Josh asked, startled.

“Oh, sorry, that was just my phone,” Tyler answered, pulling out his phone from his pocket. Josh watched expectantly as the other read whatever was on his phone. Tyler made a pained expression. “That was my roommate, I have to go now, otherwise he’ll be super pissed at me. Told him it would be horror movie night.” Josh could feel his heart sink.

“Promise me you’ll come back?” Josh asked, gripping tighter onto Tyler’s hand.

“Of course! I’ll be back here tomorrow, I promise,” Tyler said with earnest, standing up. “I’ll see you then.” And with that, Josh was alone again.

Josh didn’t know what he was getting himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u enjoyed!! next chapter's coming on wednesday :-)  
> as always, u can check out my instagram / tumblr @crvptozoology if ur curious abt what im up to (im also 2excited abt this merman au, so i end up drawing a lot from it)


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh couldn’t resist going back up to the surface earlier than usual to wait for Tyler that next day. What surprised him the most, though, was the person swimming next to the dock already.

Josh couldn’t resist going back up to the surface earlier than usual to wait for Tyler that next day. For safety precautions, he would only go up when it was dark enough to obscure himself fully. But now, the sun was only just beginning to set, casting a golden pink hue across the landscape. What surprised Josh the most, though, was the person swimming next to the dock already. He swam a couple yards away, purely for fear of the swimmer seeing his tail. Upon breaching the surface, he discovered that the swimmer was Tyler. Josh felt like his heart stopped beating. Before this, he had never even _considered_ telling a human about himself, that’s way too dangerous. But now, as he watched Tyler wading in the crystalline water, Josh wanted to join him. Time to act casual.

“Oh, h-hey Tyler!” Josh exclaimed, throwing up a friendly wave of the hand. Tyler turned toward the merman, golden skin already basking in the sunset’s light.

“Josh!” Tyler said with a smile. Josh cautiously made his way toward the other, trying to keep his pink tail concealed under the water. It seemed to work, as Tyler just looked at him. In fact, he actually looked genuinely happy.

“What’s up?” Josh asked, trying to hide the nerves peeking through his voice. “You’re here earlier than yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tyler said, “told my roommate that I was studying at my friend Mark’s house and that I wasn’t gonna be home. He took the hint,” He paused, the lapping waves making the silence not-so-silent. The way Tyler looked at Josh made the merman want to _melt._

“The weather is n-nice,” Josh said, cursing in his head for saying something so typical. He wasn’t lying, though; the sky was an explosion of bright peaches and pinks and lavenders. Tyler gave a quick nod in response. The merman noticed that the other seemed to be in deep thought.

“Y’know what’s weird?” Tyler asked after a long pause.

“What?” Josh responded too quickly.

“I feel like whenever I see you, you’re always in the water,” Tyler said, not looking Josh directly in the eye. “Like, yesterday, you just stayed in the water after I left. Why haven’t I ever seen you come out?”

“Well,” Josh started, pausing to collect some meaningless story in his head, “I don’t know. The water just feels nice; it feels like home.”

“Yeah, I understand how you feel,” Tyler said, voice dipping lower. “That’s how I feel about the forest, to be honest. I really only came here the first time because I didn’t know where else to go, but I’m glad I was able to find you out here.” He made direct eye contact with Josh for the first time in a bit, to which Josh immediately looked away. “Are you okay?”

“I…” Josh trailed off, drowned out by the panicked thoughts in his head. Should he tell Tyler the truth? Would he even _believe_ him? Or would he send him to some facility or, oh god, Josh did _not_ want to think about Tyler betraying him like that—

“Josh,” Tyler said, dipping his head to look the merman directly in the eyes, “what’s wrong? You can tell me—“

“No!” Josh cut Tyler off, immediately regretting the way he made Tyler look in response, “I’m sorry, it’s just that…I don’t think you’d understand, or believe me. I can’t, I need to—“

“Stop, please,” The sincerity in Tyler’s voice made Josh feel even worse. Tears stung at the corners of the merman’s eyes. “I don’t want you to go. Whatever you don’t want to tell me, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think. Please, trust me.” Tyler’s hand moved gently to Josh’s shoulder. Josh let out a shaky breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

“Do you…do you believe in mythological creatures?”

“What?” Tyler asked. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Please, just listen to me,” Josh said, voice stronger than before, “like fairies or…mermaids, do you believe in that kind of stuff?” The silence between them, though it only lasted a few moments, made Josh regret saying anything at all _ever_.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Tyler said after contemplating, “I mean, if someone shows me proof of it, I’d definitely believe it. It’s kinda hard basing beliefs on something non-concrete, I guess. Again, what does this have to do with anything?”

Josh tried to form the words to tell him, tried to get himself to say _anything_ , but his efforts proved useless. He reached his hands out to Tyler’s, who had been gesticulating wildly while answering the merman’s questions. Josh brought his hands below the water, moving Tyler’s hands to rest where the scales of his tail started.

“Josh, what are you—AH!”

The contact between Tyler’s calloused hands and Josh’s tail only lasted a second before Tyler recoiled in fright. Josh felt something beyond mortified at this point, he wanted to be _anywhere_ but in the path of Tyler’s scared gaze.

“Dude, there’s something below the water or something,” Tyler said, frantic, “you might want to…” Tyler just then saw the look on Josh’s face. Just then, everything clicked into place. “Oh…oh my gosh, are you…” he hesitated before continuing, “are you a mermaid?”

“Well, not a mermaid—“

“Oh jeez, sorry,” Tyler interrupted, figuring out his mistake, “but you knew what I meant! What is it, a merman? Are you a merman, Josh?!”

“Yes,” Josh harshly whispered, “but please, you’re so loud, I don’t want anyone else to hear—“

“Josh!” Tyler exclaimed, then clearing his throat. He swam closer to the merman. “Sorry,” he whispered, excitement still edging through his voice, “Josh, do you know how cool this is?”

“Y-you’re not mad?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad?” Tyler asked incredulously, “I’m super excited, actually!” he embellished his words with a tight hug around Josh, spinning them around in the salty ocean water. Tyler’s laugh rang in Josh’s ears. “Everything makes so much more sense now!”

“Please, don’t tell anyone…” Josh said, feeling himself relax into the crook of Tyler’s toned shoulders. He could’ve stayed like that forever if the other didn’t lean back to look at Josh directly.

“I would never!” Tyler said, compassionate smile making the merman want to cry for a whole new set of reasons. “I’m good at keeping secrets, you know.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

And with that, the weight of the world was lifted off of Josh’s shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhHHH ok so this is (for now) the last chapter of this series!!! im probably gonna write a bunch of one-shots about it (if u have any ideas, feel free to hmu) buT in terms of the backstory and such this is it!!! sorry for the late upload, i've been preoccupied with other things. tysm for reading, ilysm <3

**Author's Note:**

> loL ok so this is a bit short BUT i wanna pace myself w this story instead of goin too fast too quickly nd running out of steam (cough the adventures of cobra inc cough). so, there will be bi-weekly updates for this !! i already have the second chapter written, but with school coming up i wanna have a regular update schedule for u guys <3
> 
> check out my instagram, @crvptozoology, if u wanna see illustrations that go with this whole AU!!
> 
> pls do comment if u want, it makes my day to read what u guys say :-)
> 
> (also i swear things will get happier trust me)  
> (also sorry 4 any clunky wording, this isnt beta'd)


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